The daddy and a stepmother of a 3-year-old Alabama lady have now each pleaded responsible to costs associated to her violent 2021 demise.
Police mentioned Aydah DiMaso was discovered useless with greater than 50 indicators of trauma in her father’s bathtub in October 2021 after members of the family referred to as police to carry out a welfare verify on the younger lady, in keeping with native WBRC, AL.com, and WSAZ.
Etowah District Lawyer Jody Willoughby confirmed with PEOPLE on Monday that the lady’s stepmother, Haley Dee Metz, entered a blind responsible plea to an aggravated baby abuse.
The blind settlement means Metz, 33, and the district legal professional’s workplace haven’t made a deal relating to her sentencing size, which will likely be as much as a choose in November.
AL.com first reported Metz’s responsible plea final week, noting it comes three months after the lady’s father, Nikolas Joseph DiMaso, pleaded responsible to costs of capital homicide and conspiracy to commit baby abuse. Willoughby confirmed with PEOPLE that DiMaso, 25, will serve a life sentence with out the potential for parole.
The Gadsden Instances reported final 12 months that when Aydah was discovered useless, the younger lady had recent and up to date bruising on her physique. Nikolas, her father, reportedly admitted to “slamming” the lady on the bottom and “kicking her within the abdomen” amongst different bodily abuses, in keeping with the outlet.
Aydah’s household referred to as her homicide “unthinkable” in a GoFundMe fundraiser publish, arrange in 2021 to assist cowl the household’s memorial prices.
“Aydah was a candy soul with an infectious giggle, beloved deeply by her Grandparents who had been combating for custody of her,” the fundraiser mentioned. “The system let her down, and so sadly, this tragedy was totally preventable.”
The household says within the fundraiser that Aydah’s grandparents have been making an attempt to get custody of the younger lady earlier than she was discovered useless in her father’s bathtub.
In line with WBRC and WSAZ, the younger lady’s household filed a lawsuit in opposition to the Alabama Division of Human Assets for what it alleges have been failures in Aydah’s case, which they declare led to the younger lady’s demise.
“This case represents an egregious failure of the system that’s supposed to guard our most susceptible youngsters,” the household’s legal professional Tommy James wrote in a June social media post concerning the lawsuit. “Aydah’s demise may and may have been prevented. We’re in search of justice for Aydah and accountability for these whose conduct resulted in her tragic demise.”
The Alabama Division of Human Assets declined to touch upon Aydah’s case or her household’s lawsuit in opposition to the division when reached by PEOPLE.
“What this baby suffered from is simply horrific,” James advised WBRC final 12 months. “You’ll be able to’t even think about.”